Solid Rocket "SSTO" Challenge

[Klapaucius]

Due to the rising cost of liquid fuel caused by the cartel KOPEC (not to be confused with the small coins Valentina keeps in her pockets for buying snacks)  the order has come down to design a completely reusable "SSTO" that can get to orbit and back using only solid rockets.  I put "SSTO" in quotes, because of course there will be "staging" but you may not discard anything. Every item you take off with (other than the solid fuel itself) needs to come back.

To make this open to a wide range of skills, there will be various medals. I was going to do the standard bronze, silver, gold, platinum, but that seems cliche. So, in the interest of spicing things up and in keeping with the explosive nature of the fuel we are burning, the various medals are:

 

Sodium:  Get your rocketplane into a stable orbit.

Potassium: Return from orbit and land safely.

Rubidium: Land at the KSC.

Cesium: Taxi off the runway and park in front of the SPH.

Francium: Taxi off the runway and park under the large bridge at the R&D Building. Please keep off the grass while taxiing. 

 

Make sure your hands are dry before receiving your medal.

Noble adornments and alternative awards

Argon: Take more than one Kerbal into space. 

Krypton: Launch a functional relay satellite. 

Xenon: Take off from and land at the Dessert Airfield (Must have the Cesium or Francium medal to achieve--though can be done first).

Radon: Take off from and return to the Island Airfield and park your vehicle in the hangar. (Must have the Cesium or Francium medal to achieve--though can be done first).

Organesson: Take off from the KSC, Dessert Airfield or Island Airfield and land at Woomerang. Park your craft on the launch pad.

 

(Note that that in order to provide medals in these materials, they need to be between -71 and -189 degrees centigrade.  So bring gloves and an appropriate container. We will not replace any medals that have accidentally become gaseous.  Recipients of the Organesson "medal" will have one atom personally synthesized for them. This is wonderful, and we want to thank all of you for agreeing to the entry fee increase this year which allows us to bring you such amazing awards.)

 

Plutonium: A completely  subjective and likely unfair personal judgement bestowed on the instigator(s) of mindblowing actions of insane Kerbalness.

Hydrogen: A medal for the cheapest launch cost. Again, the medal needs to be kept below -259.14 C if you want to it to remain solid and the inscription legible.

 

The leaderboard will include the lowest initial cost  in each category.  (Taking my cue from @Chequers's wonderful Orbit Boot Camp Challenge)

 

RULES:

1. Stock and DLC only

2. You must takeoff and land horizontally on wheels. Chutes are fine for braking, not for descent.

3. Nothing may be discarded.  What goes up, must come down (intact and attached).

4.  Keep to the spirit of the challenge. Don't go looking for silly loopholes.

5. You must have at least one pilot.

6. Only solid fuel engines. 

7. You must achieve stable orbit (this is defined as in orbit with no engines running with a minimum periapsis of 70,000 ) You cannot go up, make it into orbit and then turn yourself retrograde on the same burn. Orbit does not need to be circularized, just stable.  But if you manage that too, more kudos to you.

8. This is about design, not punishing you for mistakes, so if you want to quicksave at certain points, that is fine.

 

So obviously the challenge is about managing resources and coming up with innovative ways to control your thrust and manage your staging.

 

LEADERBOARD

Na Sodium Medal:

@Chequers: Breakneck 28,400

@Rhomphaia: no name?  ?

@Klapaucius: Kuragina (with Krypton medal for launching a satellite--landed, but not intact).

 

K Potassium Medal:

@Klapaucius: Volkhonsky 33,122.8

 

Rb Rubidium Medal:

@mystifeid: ShrikeII 7,627 (current holder of Hydrogen Medal for Rubidium class).

@bayesian_acolyte: Steely Glint:   8151 

@mystifeid: Shrike  9,600

@mystifeid: Swallow Mk II  13,241 

@Klapaucius: Volkhonsky Mk II 

@mystifeid: SRB Cargo 732,120 (with 7 star Argon and Krypton medals)

 

 

 

 

 

Cs Cesium Medal:

@mystifeid: Swallow 16205 (with Radon & Xenon endorsements and former holder of the Hydrogen medal, with the full honours, rights and privileges for those of the noble Order of Organesson).)

@chargan: Firecracker Mk II  16,959 (with Radon endorsement--former holder of Hydrogen medal)

@chargan: Firecracker  20,675

@mystifeid: Swift  24,270

@AHHans: Stonewhale 2F: 47,113  (Gets a slightly lower grade Cesium 137 Isotope for not keeping off the grass. Also  awarded a 2 Star Argon for putting 2 Kerbals into space and a Krypton Medal for launching a satellite)

 

Fr Francium Medal:

@Platapoes: ?   14,557 (current holder of hydrogen medal for Francium class)

@chargan: Firecracker Mk III? 15,474

@mystifeid: Swift Mk II  24,570

@ralanboyle: Solid Boring (but nice silvery coloured) SSTO:  ?

@ralanboyle:  Another Solid Boring (but nice silvery coloured) SSTO:  ? (with Argon and Krypton medals)

@AHHans: Stonewhale:  50,707 (with 5 Star Argon for putting 5 Kerbals into space)

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Klapaucius

[linuxgurugamer]

Just curious, have you done it?

 

[Klapaucius]

59 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Just curious, have you done it?

 

I confess I was still ironing out the bugs when I posted the challenge, but yes. And I would not have posted the challenge unless I knew it was doable.  I'd basically done it previously when mucking around with another build which I think I deleted, so had to start again.  Did not land at the KSC, but certainly have gotten it into orbit and safely returned. 

I usually don't post mine until a few others have gone, but here it is:

Spoiler

 

 

[Chequers]

As you've kindly mentioned me in your opening post, @Klapaucius, I thought I'd give this a go!

It took some convincing of the Chequers Aerospace Project Committee to divert funds to this seemingly crazy vanity project, but Valentina - having recently survived a near-death experience - was able to convince the board that we needed to earn some silverware for our trophy cabinet. For publicity. And science. And other excuses.

It gave us a good excuse to slip an upgrade to the runway under the radar, while the finance director was busy trying to ratify the 28,400 we spent on this mad endeavour. 

Val is getting a bit of a reputation for almost snuffing it during missions - and this was no exception. You'll notice from the attached video report that the rocketplane, christened 'Breakneck', almost takes a jaunt into the weeds to the left of the runway before lifting off. It's a miracle Val was able to wrestle this abomination of an aircraft into the air at all. Still, we don't have quicksaves or reverts as you know, so one must make do with the hand one has been dealt!

The whole thing almost goes supernova on the way through the atmosphere too; but once again, Val - the Mistress of (near) Death gets away with it. 

She'll have to settle for Sodium for her efforts though; as unfortunately we didn't have the delta-v to complete the circularisation without using the de-orbit boosters. Of course, Jebediah knew before takeoff that she'd never make it back again; but he's been a little jealous of all the attention Val has been getting recently, and he wants to be the one to command the rescue mission.

Perhaps I'll try this challenge again, once I've unlocked a few more parts. Val's used up enough her 9 lives for a while; and you won't find Jeb giving this a go. Time to mount the rescue mission to get our gal back.

Video Report

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Chequers

[ralanboyle]

I will attempt Cesium. No promises, but I have a solid plan. 

[Klapaucius]

7 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

I will attempt Cesium. No promises, but I have a solid plan. 

 

[Rhomphaia]

OK, time for some silliness.

liftoff

just after MECO

Orbital insertion

Orbit achieved

That should get me Sodium. for Potassium it is going to take a bit of work. Jeb's earlier test flight showed it should be landable, the trick is getting it to land(those SRBs don't like splashdowns

 

[Klapaucius]

22 minutes ago, Rhomphaia said:

OK, time for some silliness.

 

  Hide contents

 

liftoff

just after MECO

Orbital insertion

Orbit achieved

 

That should get me Sodium. for Potassium it is going to take a bit of work. Jeb's earlier test flight showed it should be landable, the trick is getting it to land(those SRBs don't like splashdowns

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

 

That was truly a noble effort worthy of the greats. Does the craft have a name? "Point of no Return?"  "Death Machine?"  "Blackout?" "Uninsurable?"

Edited May 6, 2020 by Klapaucius

[ralanboyle]

Alright. I can consistently hit the runway after deorbiting but the plane breaks apart due to the combination of high drag, low lift. I'm gonna have to increase ift which is going to cause a whole thing... 

Don't worry, I won't stop. 

[Klapaucius]

14 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

Alright. I can consistently hit the runway after deorbiting but the plane breaks apart due to the combination of high drag, low lift. I'm gonna have to increase ift which is going to cause a whole thing... 

Don't worry, I won't stop. 

Would love to see your fails so far!  At least get the Sodium Medal.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Klapaucius

[Klapaucius]

@Chequers  I would not have pulled this off without all the practice I got doing your challenge. It really put me on another skill level.

[mystifeid]

Tough assignment. Kept nearly making orbit and thinking maybe a couple more rockets when really what I should have been doing is trying with less.

The "Swift" won't win any prizes for low cost ( 24270) or looks but it does the job. The video below is single take - there was no quicksaving/quickloading - and shows the third consecutive time the Swift made orbit. (The first two times had much higher Ap's). It was also the first time I was able to descend near KSC. Pretty good landing then hit the brakes too hard and I was cursing as I watched the ship spin around. But then realized I was still rolling - backwards - but still rolling. Pulled off the strip and parked it in front of the SPH.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by mystifeid

[chargan]

Here's my submission: https://imgur.com/a/PgxwM2y

[sevenperforce]

Can you add a "Plutonium" category for submissions which utterly and completely blow away all of your expectations?

[ralanboyle]

4 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

Can you add a "Plutonium" category for submissions which utterly and completely blow away all of your expectations?

If we are throwing out Plutonium suggestions how about this: Land at the island airfield, taxi and park in a hanger. Then take off and land at KSC, taxi and park on the apron.  
mid like to see that. 

[Klapaucius]

5 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

Can you add a "Plutonium" category for submissions which utterly and completely blow away all of your expectations?

 

1 hour ago, ralanboyle said:

If we are throwing out Plutonium suggestions how about this: Land at the island airfield, taxi and park in a hanger. Then take off and land at KSC, taxi and park on the apron.  
mid like to see that. 

So I have not gone that far--but if you can do it, I will make a medal for it.   Can't be Plutonium. The medals all come from group 1 on the Periodic Table.   

 

 

In the meantime, the new Francium medal requires you to taxi and park under the bridge of the Research & Development Building.  You must stick to the tarmac--the groundskeepers have enough to do without fixing your wheel tracks.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Klapaucius

[Klapaucius]

11 hours ago, mystifeid said:

Tough assignment. Kept nearly making orbit and thinking maybe a couple more rockets when really what I should have been doing is trying with less.

The "Swift" won't win any prizes for low cost ( 24270) or looks but it does the job. The video below is single take - there was no quicksaving/quickloading - and shows the third consecutive time the Swift made orbit. (The first two times had much higher Ap's). It was also the first time I was able to descend near KSC. Pretty good landing then hit the brakes too hard and I was cursing as I watched the ship spin around. But then realized I was still rolling - backwards - but still rolling. Pulled off the strip and parked it in front of the SPH

That was awesome. I had a feeling it would be you who would be the first to pull this off.  I normally go through a 14 minute video at 2x speed or skip through it, but I just watched the whole thing from beginning to end. You just wrote the textbook.

That is also a very cool looking craft. 

As for less engines--yes, that is the lesson I learned; there is a point of diminishing returns or actually making things worse.  I also found there is a very fine line between going too horizontal and using too much fuel to get out of the atmosphere and getting way too high an apoapsis. On my successful run, I was much more elliptical, and so I reversed thrust at the periapsis to bring that down. On my first attempts I came in way too fast and hot. I think I may switch to the capsule--that Mk1 cockpit just gets cooked.

 

Once I have a moment, I will create your badge. In the meantime, grab your Cesium Medal from awards committee. Be sure your hands are dry and keep it in a cool place, otherwise it will melt.

You are also the leader for the cheapest craft.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Klapaucius

[Klapaucius]

7 hours ago, chargan said:

Here's my submission: https://imgur.com/a/PgxwM2y

Nice. How did you taxi back? Your video is so speeded up I could not tell.  Just momentum or did you have a small engine somewhere hidden?

 

BTW: What is the cost of your craft and its name?

[Cavscout74]

I have to give this a try.  A few careers ago, I built a suborbital solid rocket spaceplane, although it staged away the crew capsule for reentry.  I'm going to have to dust it off & see if I can get it to orbit.

[mystifeid]

3 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

You are also the leader for the cheapest craft.

Thank you for your kind words but I'm afraid @chargan has the cheapest craft at 20675. That u-turn and taxi appear to be impossible but pausing the video and squinting real hard at a few frames makes it look legit.

[Klapaucius]

1 minute ago, mystifeid said:

Thank you for your kind words but I'm afraid @chargan has the cheapest craft at 20675. That u-turn and taxi appear to be impossible but pausing the video and squinting real hard at a few frames makes it look legit.

Oh I am sure it is legit, I was just trying to figure out what it was :-)

 

Did you tally up his parts?

Edited May 7, 2020 by Klapaucius

[mystifeid]

1 minute ago, Klapaucius said:

Did you tally up his parts?

You can see the cost in the SPH at the start of the video.

[chargan]

3 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

Nice. How did you taxi back? Your video is so speeded up I could not tell.  Just momentum or did you have a small engine somewhere hidden?

 

BTW: What is the cost of your craft and its name?

Just momentum. Stepped off the brakes at 9m/s and kept it rolling. I can upload the real time speed version of the landing if you want.

Cost is 20675. Call it the Firecracker.

[Klapaucius]

14 minutes ago, chargan said:

 I can upload the real time speed version of the landing if you want.

No need. I was not questioning it--I trust people, I was just curious how you did it 

[Cavscout74]

Early results are unsuccessful but show some promise - the last attempt had a ~120km Ap, but control was lost during the second stage burn, losing most of that dV.   Surprisingly, everything that survived takeoff made a successful landing.

Spoiler

SSSTO-1, primary power is from a trio of Kickbacks.  Max altitude was <40km.

Only made it to the next peninsula after KSC, but did land safely

SSSTO-2 didn't fare as well.  No images, it was bloody and didn't operate long enough to get any shots.

 

Finally, SSSTO-3 with a 2.5m core, quad Thumpers and poor Jeb stuck in a seat in a service bay.  Also has 3 pairs of Shrimp SRB's for final circularization (hopefully), and 4 Mite's for a deorbit burn.

I don't know why the Thumpers are doing this, but the whole craft is acting weird - on loading on the runway, the thumpers start bouncing like they need autostruts despite being autostrutted AND externally strutted.  About 3-4 seconds into the Thumper burn, the craft started an uncontrollable pitch up followed by uncontrolled rolling.  It took Thumper burnout followed by a quick time warp once past 70km to regain control.  It has an advanced inline stabilizer in the service bay for control

Shrimp burn was rock steady, but nowhere near enough to make orbit after losing the Thumpers' dV

Reentry was steady as well, and it handles fairly well nearly empty - just the deorbit Mite SRB's haven't been fired since I didn't make orbit.  It actually got down to ~55 m/s just before touchdown and was still controllable.

Who needs brakes when you still have the deorbit SRB's

Parked, waiting for pickup

Not all tests were as successful, although surprisingly all mishaps were on takeoff: